About

What is Vacation Coffee?

Honestly, it’s a nickname my husband coined for some over-priced, calorie-laden Starbucks beverages we bought ourselves at the airport years ago. I wish I could remember the exact trip we were on – and with whom. I’m assuming we had woken up earlier-than-usual, schlepped a bunch of carefully packed and catalogued baby items through security with an oblivious infant in tow, and were on our way somewhere warm. We happily plopped down $15 for two hot beverages, because: “Hell, we’re ON VACATION! We don’t get to do this often. Cheers!”

Well, as it turns out, we DO do this pretty often. Our three kids are finally easy to travel with (or without) and appreciate new adventures. Over the years, my husband and I have become a well-oiled trip-planning machine, plotting out ideas and/or timelines of trips we want to take 3 years into the future. We travel with each other, with our friends, and with our extended families. We don’t often venture oversees or go to exotic locales. We are not backpackers or campers who have given up our jobs to trek across the globe. We are middle-aged midwesterners who go on (mostly) average trips in the United States.

Sweet sweet vacation coffee

Sometimes vacation coffee is a glass of wine on the airplane – or that first cocktail on a trip with your girlfriends – or when you spend $50 for “airport snacks” to feed your teen during a long flight.

Not every trip we go on begins with “vacation coffee” in a cup. But for me, the term still conjures up that feeling of anticipation between planning and experiencing . . . we’ve done the hard work of researching/reserving/confirming/packing – and now we are in that sweet spot of waiting for our new adventure to begin.

This site is about the places we’ve been or hope to visit . . . the people we travel with or want to meet . . . and the tools that guide and comfort us along the journey.